Troubled Times
by dark eyes crimzon blood
Summary: a twist on the pitch black movie a new character with a flipped out pastAU


_Disclaimer: I don't own Riddick (pity) or any other characters. But any you don't recognize are mine (yay). Now on to the story._

**Chapter 1: The First of The Last**

_Trixxa's P.O.V_

"Oh god My head." I groaned trying to sit up and open my eyes. I felt a pressure on my chest holding me down.

"Lay down. You hit your head in the crash." A deep velvet voice said from somewhere above me.

"Then help me the fuck up!" I growled getting testy.

"Okay then." A strong hand went behind my back and brought me into the sunlight.

I bolted back with a strangled yelp as the sunlight hit my face and eyes. "My sunglasses, where are they?"

"Right here," a hand came into my line of vision as I blinked furiously trying to get my eyes to stop watering. I followed the hand, and arm to a solidly muscled chest, this going to strong neck muscles and intern to a solid jaw and shaven head. Two quicksilver eyes flashed watching me covertly. I took my glasses and inspected them for cracks and scratches, deeming them in better condition than me I put them on.

"Thanks," I said extending one long fingered hand, "I'm Trixxa, you are?"

"Riddick." He said calmly taking my hand in his own and shaking it firmly.

"Richard B. Riddick?" he nodded slowly eyeing me. "Nice to meet you. You broke out of butcher bay just before I arrived in that hell hole."

"And you're a …?" he asked cocking his head to one side.

"Bellatrixxa Kentarie. Escaped convict, murderer."

"Interesting…" he looked at me intently, "how long were you in slam?"

"To long by my counts. Maybe a week, enough time to get a shine job and get the bloody fucking hell out of there." My voice was cracking from

"Four of us. You, me, a girl, and a merc." He said leading the way.

"Merc! Who?" I caught up quickly.

"William J. Johns."

"Where is that sonofabitch?" I growled.

"Oh so you have met him." Riddick's laughter sounded more like a small earthquake than a laugh, and his huge frame made my 5'8 inches seem tiny.

I nodded tightly, "That jackass is the one who put me in slam."

"He's tied up over here." Riddick started walking again.

I drew a semi automatic handgun and checked the chamber to make sure I had a full clip loaded in. "Riddick do you mind horribly if I kill him?" Riddick shook his head to answer me, "good"; I walked over and knelt down by Johns. "Wake up Johns," I said tapping him on the cheek lightly.

"Wha…Who's there…" he looked up slightly and looked at my face, "Wh- Trixxa?"

"Good morning asshole. Did you miss me?" I said in a pleasant voice.

"I…I…I…"

"The fuck you didn't have a fucking choice." I poked him sharply with my free hand. "you just got greedy so you decided to make a little more money by making up some false charges and sending you old palls daughter to slam for shit I didn't even do, then you split the cash with him." I lowered my voice threateningly. "I killed him because he sold me to you, and now I'm gonna kill you because of what you did to me. The charges used to be false, now through necessity they became true. I am what you made me."

"You killed your father!" Johns' eyes went wide.

"Yeah I did and he would have done the same to me he practically did actually. Say hi to him for me would ya, 'cause you will be seeing him in hell very soon." I brought the gun up and leveled it with his head, "I'd aim for your heart but you don't have one, bye, bye Johns" the shot rang out clearly in the silence that surrounded us.

"That's cold you know" Riddick said conversationally.

I raised an eyebrow in his direction. "Your point?"

He laughed again, "Just saying."

"You said there was a kid, and I think that we should either fix the ship or scout around to find out if there is life on this miserable rock that they so jokingly probably call a planet." I followed him to the passenger bay, a small body lay on top of a flipped over cryo unit. I walked over and looked at the kid it was a young girl around 14- 15 years old, I stood up, "ok I'll look around and you deal with the girl."

"Why do I have to baby sit?" he grumbled. Looking at the sleeping figure that I had dropped a blanket over.

"Simple, kids hate me and she's a teenage girl if she has her head on right waking up to a guy who looks like you sitting beside her will make her day, that because of the fact that you are a very attractive male." I smiled sweetly as I backed to the door, "Hell all women who don't know you and see you would be chasing you in a second if they are smart." I smiled cheekily as I turned and walked out the door.

"I'll get back at you for this!" he called after me.

I waved over my shoulder to acknowledge I had heard him. I'm sure he would find a way to get back at me he wasn't the most wanted man in the universe for nothing, hell he was probably the smartest to. I started jogging to cover more ground I headed east to start my search for… anything I guess. I laughed to myself and stopped to look back at the crash. Hell four survivors was a feat for that wreck. I took a locator off my belt and marked the crash so I could find it again. I turned and kept heading east, as I crested another hill I saw trees, I marked it and headed back to the crash. Okay so getting lost would be pretty hard if the wind wasn't blowing. I got back to the crash site and walked into the passenger bay. Riddick was sitting on the floor leaning against a cryo unit and the girl was inspecting him with a critical eye. "Awwwwwwwwww……. I told you she would appreciate you staying more than me."

Riddick looked up at me, "I will get you for this."

"I'm sure you will but until then I think we should address any questions that any of us have towards the others." I smiled trying not to laugh.

"Okay." The girl spoke softly, "I'm Jacqueline, but can every one just call me Jack?" she looked up hopefully.

"Don't worry **Jack**" I emphasized her name, "I hated the name my parents gave me too." I winked at her, "I'm Bellatrixxa V. Kentarie, call me Trixxa. And the hottie with the nice ass is Richard B. Riddick."

"Hey!" Riddick glared at me. "I'm still here you know."

"Uh-huh, so Jack you got a last name or do I have to invent one?" I grinned at Jack's face as she was trying very hard not to laugh at Riddick's description; I winked again and set her off into a fit of giggles.

"Can…you…invent…one..." she gasped breathlessly still laughing.

"Okay…you are now….hmmmmmmm……Jack B. Badd sound good to you?" she nodded still laughing to hard to breath and or talk properly. "Okay now any questions about every one here that can't wait?" I looked at both Riddick and Jack they both shook their heads. "Alright let's get going I found some trees, so it stands to reason that where there are tree's there are people if there are any on this rock."

Riddick looked thoughtful for a moment then pointed to me and Jack in that order, "Ages?"

"Don't you know never to ask a lady her age she might take offense." I winked at Jack and she grinned, "I'm 21" _looking _I added silently.

"15 and a half" Jack was still smiling from my joke.

"The only way I see it not being suspicious is if we meet someone is if we are all siblings." He raised his eyebrows at us.

"Damn that means I can't openly hit on you." I tried to look disappointed but I failed miserably as I started laughing. Jack joined me and Riddick rolled his eyes.

"Lets get moving." He got up.

"Maybe we should check out the cargo bay see if there is anything that we need or could use." I suggested as I helped Jack to her feet.

Riddick nodded and started walking. "Your right he does have a nice ass." Jack smiled up at me.

"I'm always right." I whispered confidentially then laughed, "As women we are always right. Never forget that."

Jack nodded, "so are you with Riddick?"

"You mean like with with as in dating with?" I raised an eyebrow. She nodded. "No I'm not but you are welcome to him."

"But I'm like 15."

"And …." Seeing her expression I continued. "He is looks about my age but I am much older than him."

"You said you were 21." She looked confused.

"Yes I said I was 21 and I wish I was but I'm not, I'm considerably older. Much to my dismay."

"Do you age?" she asked curiously.

"I used to, but that stopped when I turned 21, that's why I said that that's my age. It raises to many questions if I say 'oh your 21 how nice I'm such and such an age…no I'm serious' it is complex and I pay a large price for all that."

"So you don't age at all?" she puzzled.

"I age just in years. For looks I haven't since after I turned 21, the virus stopped the ageing thing. So I look like I'm 21. It's nice in bars… not. I have heard like every pick-up line in existence."

"Oh" Jack laughed softly. "That must suck."

"Definitely," I thought about everything as I walked. "What was that Jack?"

"I asked what you meant, you said at one point you paid a price for it and at another you said it was a virus."

"Oh sorry I was thinking about it, that's why I didn't hear you the first time. And it's the stuff of nightmares that's what it is. It is in essence a virus but at the same time it is so much more that it should not exist anymore. And the price is something that goes hand in hand with the condition."

"Oh," Jack was quiet for a couple minutes as we waited for Riddick to come get us from where we were rummaging through my stuff. "I'm sorry."

"You shouldn't be sorry. You aren't the one who gave it to me…….bastard" I muttered viciously stuffing more clothes in one of many duffle bags.

"So is it like and STD?" Jack asked hesitantly.

"No not like that. In my case it was a mix of genetics and him giving it to me…kinda like getting a needle" _yeah like 45 in one spot at the same time all in one go._

"Oh….?"

"It was a recessive trait in me but then he gave me the active trait." I looked at Jack after I said this. "Jack if your gonna trust someone trust Riddick. And if you ever think that you are getting close to someone get him to check them and make sure they won't hurt you in any way. Okay, do promise that?"

"Alright Trixxa I promise that. But could I come to you to?"

"Course ya can kid," I went back to packing.

"You two done yet?" Riddick asked coming back over to us.

"Are you kidding, have you seen how much shit I have here?" I looked at him incredulously.

"Good point." He helped us finish packing. "We can take some with us but we will have to leave some here until we can come back and get more of it." I nodded and picked up three bags leaving four. "Those will slow you down."

"No they won't, I'm stronger than I look." I swung one over my shoulder.

"Virus?" Jack asked picking up the one I gave her to put her stuff in.

"Partially. Grab that one to." I nodded to the smallest remaining bag.

"Okay why. Wow it's really light." She lifted it easily looking at it and then me.

"Simple it the clothes that I'm giving you because yours are ratty and we all have to look at least half ass presentable."

Riddick looked at me and Jack questioningly. "I'll take these then and we won't have to come back. And on the way you can explain."

"This is just the stuff I know we can carry this trip I still have more stuff but it is more bulk and unless I can get it folded down again I'll leave it when we come back." I smiled sweetly at Riddick's expression, "kidding."

"Thank the gods for small mercies." He sighed.

Jack and I traded small smiles in response. _This would be fun, pretending to be his sister. _We started to walk in the direction of the trees. We got to the top of the hill and breathed a sigh of relief, until we saw the bone yard. "Holy shit!" I looked down at the massive structures. I inhaled deeply. "Nothing newly dead, just bones. Well bones and dust."

"What could have killed all these things?" Jack asked hesitantly.

"Jack this is something even I don't know." I put down the largest duffle and opened it up. I took out two swords, I slipped them into the two concealed sheathes on my back. I then took out kevlar holsters four for shoulders, four for hips and two that went around my thighs. I then took out ten of my hand guns, I had put the one I had out earlier away and now I saw fit to take them all out. "But as I don't know I don't plan to be a lamb to the slaughter."

"Well Trixxa you have an impressive arsenal." Riddick eyed all my weapons.

"Thanks but you haven't seen the ones up my sleeves and in my boots." I put on two more sheathes and slipped a broad sword into each one. "Now enough talk I want to get wherever the fuck we are going before the other two suns come up, they were hotter than this one," I scrunched up the empty bag and stuffed it into one of the other ones.

"Lets keep moving." Riddick stated flatly, "if the thing or things that did this are still around I for one don't want to discover them again, as I have absolutely no desire to share the fate of these things," he nodded to the nearest skeleton.

I motioned them to stay put, "you two stay here I'll scout ahead a little." I set my locator and took off at a quick jog relishing the pull of well toned muscles. _Good to be outside again, out of the box, in the air, under the sky. Stop! You have a job to do_. I looked around and started running again. _Hills and hills, one after the other is that all this rock is made of, hills, rocks, and a shit load of dust? _I reached the top of yet another hill. A canyon, I took out my locator and pressed in my co-ordinates. I turned sharply and headed back to Riddick and Jack at a fast lope. I went off instinct to make sure I could find my way without the technology everybody else depended on. I got back and Riddick stood quickly.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked quickly.

"No. why would there be," I looked puzzled as I stopped in front of him.

"Well you were running pretty fast." He looked at me intently, "you're not out of breath, how far did you run?"

"Ummmmm….." I flipped out my locator, "three quarters of a mile."

"And you aren't out of breath!" Jack looked at me with eyebrows up.

"The virus changed me I have always had a lot of endurance, but after it gave me even more and I'm fast. So I'm good at competitions like that." I cracked my neck and nodded. "Okay follow me."

We set off again. "So what is this virus you two keep talking about?" Riddick asked.

_So curiosity killed the cat after all. _"I have a virus that changed my genetic make-up. I always had a form of it but it was a recessive trait but then a guy who was friends with the family gave me the active version." _well that is true enough. _"It gives me an extra long endurance adding to the one I already had, before a mile was easy now 10 miles is easy. It also gave me a lot more strength. I have the ability to regenerate but I can't control it, if I am hurt I will automatically heal myself, whether I want to or not. I also don't age like normal humans, I stopped aging at 21 so I am a lot older but I look quite young. But I also pay a bit of a price, one that won't kill me but it sure as hell feels like it will."

"How is it transmitted?" he asked looking at me with confusion in his eyes.

"Blood stream." I said shortly. _Partly true at least, it is in the blood. _"Here we are." Jack and Riddick kept walking with me. _Hmmmmmmm…no alone time then. _The canyon was relatively short. "Steel." I looked down from the giant rib cage that was over us.

"What was that?" Riddick looked at me sharply.

"I smell steel. Over there," I pointed up the ridge. "Stay here for a minute." I crouched and jogged up the hill. I looked over intently staying low, _if there is more life on this planet I don't intend to get shot to shit. _I thought sourly. A settlement spread out below me it looked like the only inhabitants would be ghosts. I ran back to Riddick and Jack. "It is a settlement there. It looks empty. Lets go see if looks are accurate." I started walking Jack and Riddick at my side. We walked cautiously down the hill to the ghost town. I lifted my head to catch the wind as it shifted, "This place reeks of old death," I looked around, "There is nothing alive here anymore, everything is dead."

"Is and incredibly keen sense of smell another trait of the virus?" Riddick asked.

"Yeah it is. And eye sight, hearing to," _Among other things._

"Let's see if we can find out why **or if** they left." Jack edged closer to both me and Riddick.

"Good idea Jack," we walked into a room, light was non-existent, I lifted my sunglasses and looked around I walked over to a wall with shutters and opened them enough to let light hit the solar collector on the table. A soar system model started to move slowly the years clicking by. It clicked the years off it hit 22 and the planet was thrown into darkness by two different planets blocking the miniature suns. "Fuck." I looked between Riddick and Jack. "Let's find out what year the eclipse is because I have a feeling that we won't like it when the lights go out." They nodded and we set off quickly. I slid my sunglasses back down to cover my eyes as we walked back out. I saw a sand cat and walked over. Riddick looked at it.

"Solar. Not a problem if we have light." I nodded and pointed.

"We'll need it power cells are heavy as hell and that will need them." We walked over. "It's a skiff but it'll get us off this dust ball. With power, Riddick can you pilot?"

"Yeah I can pilot." He looked at the skiff, "not much but it'll work."

"Your skills or the skiff?" I eyed him.

"Skiff, I was in the military for a bit, so the pilot thing is fine."

"Just checking, I have no desire for an early grave." I put the duffels on the floor of the skiff and turned. "Okay we have transport, but we need those dates."

"What if we found why they were here, if they were scientist they would have notes or sumthin' right?" Jack looked at us for reassurance.

I hugged her, "Thank the gods and teen girl with a brain, well any teen with a brain, but still, you are brilliant." I marched out of the skiff and stood at attention, when Riddick walked past me I saluted.

"You have way to much ego." He looked at me slightly annoyed. I went off into peels of laughter.

"True but it is fun to bug you." I flounced off. And stopped as I passed a building Jack was looking up at. "What did ya find Jack?"

"I think I found your answer." We tried the doors. They were locked solidly.

"I think that we found another answer." I turned to look at Riddick who had spoken, he was holding a pair of eyeglasses.

"I think that we did." I pulled a sword off my back and swung it through the small space between the doors. I kicked it open and pushed Jack behind me edging in slowly. I looked up into a corner that was covered with a leafy substance; I sniffed lifting my head a little. "Oh fuck! Back, back, back." I pushed both Jack and Riddick out.

"What is it." Riddick asked looking into the shadows.

"Something alive, not human, it lives in the dark, smells like it should be dead, it is a carnivore." I rubbed my nose, _bad, smells wrong dead but not dead, will be dead soon._ I looked at Riddick. He yanked on a sheet and more solar collectors started up. I heard screeches that were high pitched and I grimaced in discomfort,_ to loud make it stop!_ I shook my head and looked down at my locator, I marked the area and looked at the calendar, hmmmmmmm…..moon change soon, tonight in about four hours, _oh lovely something akin to a bad case of PMS that has been denied to long._ "Its gone for the most part," I walked in slowly. We stayed together for obvious reasons of not being eaten. _Don't bite me little creatures, I bite back. _

"Hey Trixx, Riddick, look," Jack called us over, coring samples.

"Hmmmmmmm……most recent……." I looked at the small labels. "Ahhhh…. Here it is." I looked at the date and closed my eyes as I set it down. "Tomorrow."

"Lets get back to the crash and get the power cells, how many will we need?" Riddick lead us from the coring room and to the sand cat.

I rubbed my forehead. "I'm not sure lets bring ten then we have extra's."

"Sounds good." Riddick started the sand cat; I passed him the locator as Jack cleaned off the solar collector.

"Did these fricking people not hear of electricity for cristsake!" Jack sat down beside me as we bumped along.

"Apparently not." I crossed my legs.

"So this virus what does it do to you?"

"I turn into a bitch." _Literally._ I looked at Jack.

She grimaced, "so like a bad case of PMS?"

"Sumthing like that." We pulled up to the crash, "Jack stay here ok and when we get back to the settlement I want you to get anything that it jarred or canned. And bottled water ok?" she nodded; I jumped off the back of the sand cat and ran after Riddick to get the power cells. "Riddick, wait." He looked at me and slowed down, "Riddick you have to chain me up tonight within three hours."

He looked at me strange, "No."

I grabbed his arm and spun him to face me, "you don't understand, you need to chain me up, if you don't I could kill you or even Jack and I wont have control. I will lose the control, its part of the price. I hate it but it is a part of me. It's the only way to protect you two, you must."

He looked at me thoughtfully. "You're sure?" I nodded tightly, "let's go we don't have much time."

I smiled softly, "Thank you Riddick."

We hauled the power cells out quickly as possible and put them on the back of the sand cat. We took of to the settlement and when we got there Jack ran to do what I asked her. "Use the flashlight to check the walls and ceiling before you go in!" I called after her.

Riddick led me to a house that we had already checked and found nothing, there was spray paint on the door to mark it, Jack liked that idea, graffiti with a purpose she called it. Riddick chained me quickly as a timer on my locator went off. He backed away. "What now?" he looked at me.

"Don't unchain me until this goes of again." I gasped out.

_Hello I hope you liked my first chapter, if any of you have comments or suggestions I would love to hear them but I would prefer not to get any that are mean. Thank you and please review. PS. Bloodredcherry tell me whatcha think_.


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